1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a vehicle for transporting goods, articles or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cart having inertia-levelled tables for transporting articles such as silicon wafers from place to place in a production environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Silicon wafers on which integrated circuits are formed are very delicate and are usually transported in grooved cassettes which are in turn disposed in so-called wafer-lot boxes. A wafer-lot box supports a cassette, each of which can hold up to 25 wafers, in a manner wherein the cassette assumes an angle with respect to the horizontal and so that wafers are induced to rest on their respective rear surfaces and so that their front or upper surfaces do not come into contact with anything.
At certain phases of production, the wafers need to be transported to other areas irrespective of the fact that they may not yet be provided with their final protective coating. At such times, the dies on wafer are very vulnerable to impact damage and particle contamination. In the event that such wafers are loaded onto a hand cart, the chances of the wafers being jolted in a detrimental manner, such as when the cart is moved over expansion joint covers, or moved up or down an incline such as a ramp, and the like, exists, and therefore an operator, who is pushing the cart, must exercise extreme care in order to avoid any damage to the highly sensitive cart cargo.